THE NUMBER of property sales in Cyprus during September rose 18 per cent compared to September 2016 according to official statistics published by the Department of Lands and Surveys earlier today.

This rise follows a 27% increase in August, an 18% increase in July, and a 28% increase in June.

During September a total of 602 contracts for the sale of residential and commercial properties and land (building plots and fields) were deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus, compared with the 556 deposited in September 2016.

Of those 602 contracts, 441 (70%) were deposited by Cypriot purchasers and 161 (30%) were deposited by overseas purchasers.

Although sales in Larnaca fell by 12% compared with September 2016, they rose in the remaining four districts.

Sales in Famagusta rose 78%, while sales in Paphos rose by 17%. Meanwhile sales in Nicosia and Limassol rose by 7% and 4% respectively.

Total Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison

District

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Nicosia

2016

54

79

82

79

82

98

102

64

81

80

86

144

2017

72

73

79

80

118

162

124

76

87

Famagusta

2016

22

35

33

35

24

34

27

41

32

47

19

87

2017

21

19

40

29

38

46

59

47

57

Larnaca

2016

78

108

121

127

103

120

123

81

121

111

114

153

2017

102

100

113

69

119

96

103

88

107

Limassol

2016

92

179

197

166

145

222

220

129

195

270

249

432

2017

132

177

232

192

298

304

289

201

203

Paphos

2016

81

100

106

107

120

183

153

136

127

126

183

318

2017

96

87

162

136

183

235

184

160

148

Totals

2016

327

501

539

514

474

657

625

451

556

634

651

1,134

2017

423

456

626

506

756

843

739

572

602

During the first nine months of 2017, sales contracts have risen 19% compared to the same period last year.

(An unknown number of property sales contracts relate to ‘non-sale’ agreements such as loan restructurings, recoveries and debt-to-asset swaps agreed between the banks and defaulting borrowers. These contracts inflate the total figures above and the domestic sales figures below.)

Domestic property sales

Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) in September rose 3% compared to September 2016.

Although sales in Larnaca and Nicosia fell by 19% and 4% respectively, they rose by 95% in Larnaca, 8% in Limassol and by 2% in Paphos.

Domestic Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison

District

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Nicosia

2016

43

70

10

69

68

92

94

58

75

70

73

116

2017

63

69

71

62

103

150

109

70

72

Famagusta

2016

20

31

21

33

24

7

19

32

22

37

9

72

2017

20

17

24

23

27

31

30

25

43

Larnaca

2016

68

96

85

91

93

75

91

67

90

81

74

114

2017

77

80

85

49

76

70

62

63

73

Limassol

2016

68

158

145

122

126

162

156

101

142

202

196

307

2017

97

130

176

152

202

227

194

160

153

Paphos

2016

61

72

59

65

105

126

74

88

98

83

111

171

2017

73

47

82

93

88

157

93

81

100

Totals

2016

260

427

382

380

416

462

434

346

427

473

463

780

2017

330

343

438

379

496

636

488

399

441

During the first nine months of 2017, domestic sales contracts have risen 12% compared to the same period last year.

Overseas property sales

Property sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market during September 2017 rose 25% compared to the same month last year with 161 contracts of sale deposited compared with 129 in September 2016.

With the exception of Limassol, where sales fell 6%, they rose in all the other districts.

Nicosia led the way with the number of property sale contracts deposited rose 15% compared with September 2016. Meanwhile, sales in Paphos rose 66% and by 40% in Famagusta and by 10% in Larnaca.

Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison

District

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Nicosia

2016

11

9

10

10

14

6

8

6

6

10

13

28

2017

9

4

6

18

15

12

15

6

15

Famagusta

2016

2

4

12

2

0

27

8

9

10

10

10

15

2017

1

2

16

6

11

15

29

22

14

Larnaca

2016

10

12

36

36

10

45

32

14

31

30

40

39

2017

25

20

28

20

43

26

41

25

34

Limassol

2016

24

21

52

44

19

60

64

28

53

68

53

125

2017

35

47

56

40

96

77

75

41

50

Paphos

2016

20

28

47

42

15

57

79

48

29

43

72

147

2017

23

40

80

43

95

78

91

79

48

Totals

2016

67

74

157

134

58

195

191

105

129

161

188

354

2017

93

113

186

127

260

208

251

173

161

During the first nine months of 2017, property sales to the overseas market have risen 42% compared with the same period last year reaching a total of 1,574.

(During September a total of 121 properties were transferred to overseas buyers bringing the total number of transfers for the year to date to 739.)

Cyprus Property Sale Contracts 2000 – 2017

Year

Overseas Sales

Domestic Sales

Percentage Overseas Sales

Total Sales

2000

450

12,214

3.6%

12,664

2001

1,207

12,849

8.6%

14,056

2002

2,548

14,111

15.3%

16,659

2003

3,981

15,294

20.7%

19,275

2004

5,384

11,947

31.1%

17,331

2005

6,485

10,106

39.1%

16,591

2006

8,355

8,598

49.3%

16,953

2007

11,281

9,964

53.1%

21,245

2008

6,636

8,031

45.2%

14,667

2009

1,761

6,409

21.6%

8,170

2010

2,030

6,568

23.6%

8,598

2011

1,652

5,366

23.5%

7,018

2012

1,476

4,793

23.5%

6,269

2013

1,017

2,750

27.0%

3,767

2014

1,193

3,334

26.4%

4,527

2015

1,349

3,603

27.2%

4,952

2016

1,813

5,250

25.7%

7,063

2017 (Sept)

1,574

3,949

28.5%

5,523

Totals

60,192

145,138

29.3%

205,328

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Readers' comments

I reckon we – most of us – know the weaknesses in both property construction across the island, and the proper delivery to purchasers of clean Title Deeds, will it have changed with these Up-scale multi-storey developments – probably not?

Will these film star “coastal High Rise Properties,” / grossly overpriced concrete boxes with poor insulation etc, have full & clean Title Deeds with no problems at point of sale / exchange of contracts?

An interesting and overall maybe encouraging plethora of statistics, for sure – and perhaps “Reasons to be Cheerful” ….? . But I – and others I know ! – sense Cyprus property may soon be heading for the top (Boom!) of the often-discussed ‘Boom and Bust’ scenarios seen in many countries at different times (from the little old Republic of Ireland to the U S of A…amongst many other examples.. )

Here, you only have to see the increasing numbers of coastal High-Rise properties being frantically built, especially along the Limassol ‘strips’, most close to, or with good views of – the sea, stimulated very probably by the ‘attractive’ ‘Cyprus < EU Passports being made available for those 'non EU' wealthies buying Â£500k+ properties and above, and many it seems also Depositing â‚¬1m upwards in Cyprus banks – a 'scheme' successfully used elsewhere. But the Cyprus version, we are told, already under surveillance it seems from Brussels and the IMF.

Boom yes BUT…..

The views expressed in readers' comments are not necessarily shared by the Cyprus Property News.